Labor is framing its leader Anthony Albanese as a prime minister who will "show up" in its first official election campaign advertisement.
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The 30-second commercial, which will hit the airwaves on Friday, focuses on Mr Albanese exclusively, in a sign the party is increasingly confident about a head-to-head battle with Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Various polls suggest Mr Albanese is now neck-and-neck as Australia's preferred leader, after trailing Mr Morrison heavily throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Labor is labelling the advert as a demonstration of Mr Albanese's positive vision, he makes a sly aside at the prime minister for holidaying in Hawaii at the height of the Black Summer bushfires.
"Australians deserve a Prime Minister who shows up, who takes responsibility, and who works with people," he says.
Labor has targeted the Coalition on cost-of-living pressures by claiming rising fuel prices, which Mr Morrison has attributed to the war in Ukraine, are exacerbating stagnant wages.
And after COVID-19 placed extreme pressure on the nation's hospital system, Mr Albanese promises to make it "easier to see the doctor".
Though light on detail, the advert also includes pledges to create more secure jobs, reduce power bills, make TAFE education free, work with business, and manufacture goods in Australia.
The pandemic has left Mr Albanese struggling to define himself, as Mr Morrison, state and territory leaders, and public health officials dominated public attention.
Labor has consistently led the Coalition on a two-party preferred basis, but its shock loss in the 2019 election has left it wary.
Mr Morrison rode high approval ratings in a successful presidential-style campaign, framing the vote as a choice between him and then-Labor leader Bill Shorten.
In a pre-election blitz, Mr Albanese promised to take inspiration from Bob Hawke in a bid to frame himself as a safe pair of hands.
But his focus on weight loss and new glasses during a 15-minute sit down with A Current Affair prompted derision from Mr Morrison, who claimed: "I'm not pretending to be anyone else".
'Real venom'
The federal government on Thursday revealed flood disaster payments will be extended to flood-ravaged parts of the NSW north coast.
Ballina, Tweed, Byron, and Kyogle shires were excluded from the Coalition's initial support package, prompting a fierce backlash from state colleagues.
Emergency Management Minister Bridget McKenzie confirmed adults will be eligible for two payments of $1000, and children $400.
"As the full scale and impact to these areas in northern NSW is being realised, the Liberal and Nationals Government is implementing this extra support as quickly as possible," she said.
Mr Morrison flatly denied delaying additional support to campaign in WA, where the government faces a number of tough battles at the federal election.
Speaking before the announcement, he insisted a second major tranche will be quickly made available.
"When you're talking about the investments of hundreds of millions of dollars, and indeed billions now, then I think that people would expect this to go through the proper assessment of the proposals," he said.
It followed Mr Morrison receiving friendly fire from NSW Coalition MPs infuriated by his response.
Liberal MP Catherine Cusack announced she will resign from the NSW Upper House, while Nationals MP Geoff Provest branded the Commonwealth's response "deplorable [and] disgusting".
Mr Provest, who represents Tweed, said the region had been left to fend for itself and warned Mr Morrison he faced "real venom" at the next election.
"I would struggle to vote for him, because what I've seen is a failure of the federal government to listen and, more importantly, to deliver," he told ABC radio.